CULT: Argentina irises
- To:
- Subject: CULT: Argentina irises
- From: D* E*
- Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 16:29:59 -0500
From: "Donald Eaves" <donald@eastland.net>
Hello Folks,
I did see TBs blooming in Buenos Aires. Not many, but a few. None
were in tagged beds, so the cultivar varieties are unknown. I saw a
really nice smoky mauve blooming on the side of the road. Older form,
not a wrinkle or wave on it, very simple and clean. At a private home
I visited there was a large planting of what looked to be TITAN'S GLORY.
I'm not good enough to be certain, but it certainly looked the same as
what I grow as TG. Several plantings of yellow ones and one white
variety, all in home plantings as I peeped in yards while strolling. What
was remarkable to this good ol' boy from Texas was the unblemished
quality of the blooms and the foliage. They were having perfect weather
and the plants had responded with just about perfect growth.
What I saw in great quantities was I. pseudacorus. It answered my
question as to whether this particular plant can become invasive. If
the conditions are right, it certainly can and it certainly was doing so
there. Whole fields and ditches were filled with nothing but the pseuds.
They had choked out all competition. Some drainage ditches on the
roadsides were being dredged to clear the pseuds and some fields only
had a few grassy areas in between huge clumps or areas, leaving little
for the livestock to graze. They were a glorious sight in bloom, but I'm
sure the landowners don't love them.
In the botanical gardens they only had one iris other than pseudacorus.
It was a small, flat white iris - about 2 1/2 inches across with prominent
lavender styles and a big tongue shaped yellow patch on the falls. Quite
nice. The styles were large enough to give the effect of standards above
a six fall flower. It reminded me of one the I. fulvas I'm growing, but in
a
different color. It was growing at the edge of a pond, with I. pseudacorus
in the pond.
Otherwise, I saw several irids (I think). Until I got up close and
personal,
I thought they were irises. On close inspection, the standards appeared
to be attached to the falls, rather than separate. They were in a blue
shade
and in yellow. Both were small, about 2 1/2 inches, and had a quarter
size tiger striped marking in the center of the blooms. They were about
4' tall, with the foliage and buds appearing very much like LAs. There
seemed to be one leaf extending beyond the buds, but it consistently laid
horizontal to the buds and blooms, so they were well displayed. When I
first spied them from taxi, I thought I'd found LAs until I examined them
closely. These latter were growing in the Iguazu Falls area, which is more
tropical (toucans and all that) than Buenos Aires.
It's a pity more irises aren't grown there. From what I saw, it is an ideal
growing climate for many. It would especially be a good one for LAs, I
think. I think the JIs will grow there as well. In the Japanese Gardens I
saw what I believe to be JI clumps. Unfortunately, they only had bud
stalks which were yet to open and no blooms.
Still, for one who enjoys seeing things grow well beyond irises, I couldn't
have visited at a better time. The city and the falls were currently
exploding
in spring color. Azaleas, amaryllis, clivias, orchids, strelitzia,
bougainvillea,
poinsettia, roses and roses and roses - lots of roses, and numerous plants
of the bedding varieties doing better than I've ever seen before. Gazanias
were commonly grown and with a success I've not seen before. Impatiens
are ubiquitous and grow wild in Iguazu Falls National Park. Whether they
or native, or just successful escapees, I don't know. From the improved
look of them, I suspect the latter. It was a drastic change from our
drought
stricken part of Texas.
Donald Eaves
donald@eastland.net
Texas Zone 7 - where two weeks away without rain did not help my own
plants a bit. They look pretty sad.
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